XP control panel unaccessable after sp2 upgrade

[DodgyBobZ]

Help !! When I install xp sp2 I can't access the control panel anymore. I get a "data execution prevention" message alert then it closes.
But if I uninstall xp sp2 I can. I'm using xp pro.
Any idea what might be causing this please?
Thanks.

 

[ender]

Your problem seems to be caused by DEP (Data Execution Prevention, that is). It's supposed to prevent damage from viruses and data corruption. SP2 turns it on by default and unfortunately I don't know any way of completely disabling it.

However, you can make sure DEP is only enabled for a minimum of services. Try to right click on a "My Computer" icon and go to the "Advanced" tab. Click on the "Settings" button in the "Performance" section. Another window should pop up. "Data Execution Prevention" is the last tab on the right. If your processor doesn't support hardware based DEP (and it most likely doesn't) you should check the first option : "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs adn services only". If it's already checked then you might want to consider not getting SP2.

If this doesn't work, another ideea that comes to mind is to try to check the second option and exclude as many services as you can think of. I think the main Control Panel window is provided by explorer.exe, so make sure you add at least that to the exclude list.

:knock: Keep in mind that I have not tried the second ideea myself and it may not get you any results at all or even make your system unstable.

 

[DodgyBobZ]

The problem was more difficult than I had notice at first. The fault was tied up with windows explorer as you mentioned. And I was unable to do anything with My Computer either. So I bit the bullet and reinstalled everything. Checking at each stage. This time it all works Ok (so far!). So I guess I'll never find out what the problem was. Anyway thanks for you trouble.

 

[ender]

No problem.